Tim Drake gets a grim vision of the future from a time traveling visitor names Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong. We see Batman and Kate at odds in the future, with the fate of the country in balance.
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DETECTIVE COMICS # 977
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Javier Fernandez, Eddy Barrows & Eber Ferreira
Colorist: John Kalisz & Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Cover Artist: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira & Adriano Lucas
Variant Cover: Rafael Albuquerque
Editors: Chris Conroy Asst. Editor: Dave Wielgosz
Publisher: DC Comics
What You Need to Know:
Tim in college is how we start this issue. Specifically Ivy University, a few years from now. We see the intellect of a young Tim Drake that has time to allocate to other things such as “Professor Palmers” White Dwarf equation. He seems still detached from his school chums, aloof and not in step with the peers his age.
Then suddenly the news comes in. The President has declared Gotham a No Man’s Land, and is making its move against Batman!
What You’ll Find Out:
Unfortunately, Kate knows just where to get into the Batcave. The Grandfather clock. She sends an army of Colony soldiers against the Batman. He is not going down without a fight, as he activates the defenses. Fighting his way out, he is fragged by a lucky shot. Kate (Batwoman) catches an unmasked Batman dead to rights. She gives him one last chance to surrender but knows that he will not. She shoots him, and they have completed their objective, to kill the Batman.
What Just Happened?
Tim tries to get there in time, but arrives just a bit too late to save Batman, but not too late to Confront Kate.
It turns out that this was just a simulation that Ulysses shows Tim after he followed him into his room from the future. Ulysses claims to have been employed by the Colony and a “Fan” of Tim Drake (Red Robin) from the not too distant future. He explains his motivations and says that he has taken control of Brother Eye, to form a lasting Peace, and wants Tim to join him.
The story shifts to two Colony soldiers that are talking about an update in their software. As they suit up and put on their helmets, Brother Eye takes control. UT Oh!
Tim meets up with Batman on the rooftop and tells him that he had an experience that really shook him, talking about the future that Ulysses showed him, and they agree to take it one day at a time, starting with these two thugs. Enter the Two Colony Soldiers that Brother eye possessed. To be continued…
Rating: 8 / 10
Final Thought:
This seems to be an example of some future manipulation of Tim when he is in a very Vulnerable state. I am interested to see how this plays out and just where this goes. I do not think that Tim completely believes Ulysses, but he is at an all-time low. The events seem too conveniently steeped in such current events with the team, to be anything but a manipulation. As far as bleak futures, we have certainly seen worse, so I am left to wonder if this will be a successful gambit when this inevitably turns to be a manipulative trick. Of This I’m sure. The arc is pretty compelling, even if it tickles on some “Days of Future Past” tropes. That said I love the detail in the art, and the story is headed in a fun direction.
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